


Road Trip Au

by frogeyed



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Nonbinary Chara and Frisk, Post-Canon, Road Trips, let them be happy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-14
Updated: 2017-08-14
Packaged: 2018-12-15 05:01:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,638
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11798934
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frogeyed/pseuds/frogeyed
Summary: The gang takes a road trip to chill out and explore the surface they worked so hard to reach.However Frisk struggles to lift the weight of the world off their shoulders and is plagued by guilt. They still want to save everyone, and even if they aren't sure if they can they are DETERMINED to try.





	Road Trip Au

The place looked identical to every 50’s themed diner on television. Fake leather lined booth seats, couches, and even some of the tables. The basic rule of thumb of the place seemed to be if you could sit on it, it would be covered in pleather. Frisk wondered if the toilet seats were too. Stools that lined counter were filled by lumbering truck drivers who looked like they were better suited to a career in wrestling. Frisk didn’t like strong smells but for once they were thankful for the thick aroma of coffee that masked the truckers smells, which Frisk had been unfortunate enough to encounter as they walked past them to the booth where Undyne, Alphys and Sans were already waiting.

Undyne and Alphys were sitting closer than strictly necessary on one side of the booth. Alphys was still blushing as she gestured Frisk and the others over, no doubt a recent victim of Undyne’s merciless flirting. Sans seemed to be going for the extremely chill and not at all awkward being a third wheel look. He was leaned back as far as the cramped booth seat allowed and taking extreme interest in the tv, which currently sported a out of order sign. Frisk grinned glad that Sans was enduring the embarrassment for once instead of making someone else flustered for a prank. Serves him right.

Papyrus clearly unaware of or unperturbed by the flirting plonked himself down next to Undyne and Alphys and squished them across so that everyone would have a chance at fitting onto the seat. Frisk sat next to Sans, he gave a brief nod of greeting but otherwise kept his relaxed posture. Toriel took the seat next to Papyrus and Asgore sat next to Frisk. The two goat monsters looked very uncomfortable. Despite that Frisk was pretty much sandwiched between their goatdad and Sans, and Sans was making very good friends with the wall, Asgore only managed to half-sit on the seat. The other side didn’t look much better. Papyrus’ long legs poked up above the table. To Frisk everyone looked as though they had been made to sit at a kiddy table. It was hilarious. 

A rather white-faced waitress came and delivered the menus. Frisk noted she lacked the upbeat vibe she had held with the other customers, but they didn’t blame her much. This was a while a way from Mt Ebott now, they probably hadn’t seen many monsters. 

“A distinct lack of snails,” Asgore rumbled disapprovingly next Frisk. They peaked out from the spot they had nestled against him, the others were studying the menu critically.

“Not to worry! I came prepared,” Toriel pulled a container from her satchel and placed it on the table. Inside lots of snails… slithered? Do snails slither? In anycase they were frantically moving around in a very slow motion panic. Frisk cringed. Where other kids faced brussel sprouts and broccoli, Frisk faced snails. 

“A distinct lack of spaghetti as well,” Papyrus noted, he held the menu out at an arm's length and rubbed his chin with his other hand. Some of the detective shows Frisk had shown him were apparently worn off on him, “Has this place no class?”

“You could have some of my snails if you would like.”

“U-Uh no thanks your majesty, I believe this, uh omelet will be a suitable replacement.” Even Papyrus had food standards when it came to snails.

When the waitress returned her hands were practically trembling with the effort of holding her notepad. Her eyes darted from monster to monster, as if only now daring to take them in. There was almost an audible gasp when she spotted Frisk, a human child, concealed mostly by Asgore’s furry arms. They waved at her.

“Are you guys ready to take, I mean for me to take your orders?” Her voice wavered a little. 

The table went around politely answering, the waitress jumped a little when Papyrus spoke louder. Toriel ordered the waffles and asked if the chef would mind if she ‘improved it’ with snails. Papyrus ordered his omelette, though only after making sure there was no spaghetti available. Sans got a bottle of ketchup. Undyne ordered a double #8, which apparently the point the waitress couldn’t take anymore.

“You are aware that that’s a platter meal, it would serve this whole group-” The waitress stopped at the look she received from Undyne. Frisk didn’t blame her, they didn’t think many people would dare take on Undyne no matter how small the disagreement.

After that the groups orders went more conventionally and the waitress retreated at twice the normal pace.

As time went on hopes began to dwindle as to whether the waitress was going to come back with their food. Eventually Sans volunteered him and Frisk to go find entertainment. Curious, Frisk followed cautiously. They got the feeling Sans was planning something, but they weren’t yet sure if they were the target of the prank. Sans shot them a grin.

“i saw a jukebox on the way in here,” He explained as they dodged between tables and diners giving them a stink eye, “figured everyone here could use a bit of a pick me up at this insane hour of the morning.”

The jukebox looked similar to what they had had in Grillbys in the underground. Just as old and just as broken. Sans didn’t miss a beat, disappearing behind it with a determined look in his eye.

“cover me.” Sans called and Frisk’s eyes widened. It felt as though the whole diner’s attention was firmly on them. Frisk tried to summon the determination to stare back and was met with hostile glares that made them shrink a bit. They’re just scared, They remind themselves, Seeing monsters for the first time can be scary for humans. Remember how scared you were when you first got to the underground.

This was often a line Frisk attempted reassured themselves with, and as usual it wasn’t very convincing. Yes, Frisk had been terrified when they fell down into the underground. But that fear was rooted more in their fears of Chara and whether it would be one of those timelines, not in the monsters that meant them no harm. Frisk was aware that there must have a first timeline when it truly was the first time they had fallen, but those experiences were far too lost in the forgotten spectre memories. 

“success,” Sans announced knocking Frisk from their thoughts. He emerged from the back of the jukebox wiping his hands on his shorts, “thanks for your help kid. here, for your troubles.”

Frisk looked incredulously at the hotdog Sans had just handed them. His hands hadn’t even gone to his pockets, it was as if it had slipped out of Sans jacket sleeves. They tilted their head trying to get a better look but before they could ask Sans continued. He began to choose songs as if he were choosing ingredients for fine cuisine.

“alright then. a couple dozen of those. five or so of those. can go past that one.” Frisk wondered how long Sans had queued songs for. 

The dropped the hotdog in horror as a blasting version of Tom Jones ‘What’s New Pussycat’ erupted from the once dead jukebox. They recalled the video they and Sans had watched late at night. Suddenly it seemed a lot less funny now they were facing such torture themselves. That song hadn’t even been on the playlist options.

Sans saw Frisk’s horror and laughed, “Don’t worry kid, this is only a warning. My taste in music is far too fine to not share with these good people.”

Frisk worried more.

As they made their way to the table the diner waitress simultaneously moved to reach a table. They didn’t notice each other until it was too late. The waitress, who had been about to pour coffee for a trucker, crashed into Sans and spilt it all down his shirt. Thankfully Sans being a skeleton was not burned, through his “Geology Rocks” shirt was a major loss.

The waitress looked torn between begging for forgiveness and running for her life. Sans looked nervous, he didn’t really know how to react, “uh its fine, ive got no skin so no burns or anything” The coffee still steamed on his shirt, as if taunting the waitress with how unnatural it was that he wasn’t hurt. The man who had ordered the coffee looked angry.

“Hey, at least you won’t have to pay for the coffee. It’s on him!” Frisk laughed nervously attempting to break the tension. The waitress and the trucker gave Frisk shocked blank looks, but the look Sans turned to show Frisk shone with pride. They both quickly went back to their booth while the waitress and the trucker were too suprised to do anything.

 

\---------

 

After enduring 3 Duck Songs, 2 Never Gonna Give You Ups, 2 You Spin Me Right Rounds and the entire Mamma Mia soundtrack the group was finally ready to leave. Frisk didn’t know how Sans had managed to get the jukebox working and to play those songs in the short time they had their back to him. Frankly they were too scared to ask for fear it might bring on more demonstrations. Undyne had made a valiant effort with the two platter meals but had been forced to abandon it when her girlfriend became concerned for her health. She was still making protests as they walked to the cars.

“A true hero never abandons their cause!” Undyne complained, as Alphys practically dragged her away, “I can do it! There was only a little bit left!”

“There was a whole table's worth left. I’m sorry, but I don’t think that anyone is designed to eat that much,” Alphys countered, “At some point I had to step in and say, enough is enough. And I decided that point was after you ate enough servings of waffles for 10 people.”

“Maybe a human couldn’t eat that much but I’m tough! I could have done it!” 

Frisk shook their head and walked away from the couple. The others were gathered up ahead, near a van Frisk hadn’t noticed on the way in. 

“Mettaton donated this van for our roadtrip,” Toriel explained, “I hope that explains the decorations.”

The van was a gradient from dark blue purple to Mettaton pinkTM. Despite the vans modest size heavily fonted text declared the van a Mettaton Roadie Bus. Two blown up pictures of the robot adorned the sides, obscuring the window view significantly. The giant Mettatons were rather… flirtatious. Frisk blushed a little.

Along with Papyrus’ covertible the other vehicle was Sans motorcycle. Frisk wasn’t surprised he had brought it along. Asgore had taken to splurging his large amount of gold on his friends and had decided to upgrade the motorised tricycle Sans had been riding around to a full blown motorcycle. Sans had fallen in love with it at first sight. Then he’d studied up on mechanics and upgraded it in ways that weren’t visible to the naked eye. The bike and he were inseparable.

Though apparently not completely, because when Undyne requested to drive the bike he let her and climbed into the van. Frisk followed after him, having no desire to ride with in the convertible with the cold morning air again. Alphys got in the driver's seat while everyone else headed for Papyrus’ car.

As they drove Alphys blasted songs from an anime soundtrack. Occasionally she would get a little too into the music and the car would start dancing too, but after the first few close calls Frisk could tell Alphys was making a conscious effort to dial it back.

Sans and Frisk took refuge at the back, where Sans had mercifully disabled the speakers to spare their ears. To pass the time Sans was attempting to teach Frisk a card trick, but it turned out to be an elaborate version of 52 pick up. At their disappointed look he had shrugged and claimed he didn’t know many games. Frisk had decided to get revenge in a rigged game of last card, however that first required teaching the skeleton the game.

Frisk was halfway through explaining what each card did when the early start to the day began to catch up with them. A yawn interrupted the vital information about pick up cards, and more escaped every time Frisk reattempted.

“heh, why don’t you catch up on that sleep kid? looks like you need it.”

They didn’t bother arguing. Sans was a little shocked when the kid chose him as a pillow, but relaxed soon afterwards. Frisk found lying on their monster friends fascinating. Unlike a human where you could hear a steady heartbeat and the occasional gut action, the noises from a monster were all magic based. As each monster’s magical energy was different so was their sound. Toriel’s wavered up and down. Papyrus’ was like a drum beat. Sans’ though was much more smooth, low and constant. It reminded Frisk the sound of rain outside when you were bundled up warm inside. The perfect sound to fall asleep to.

 

\---------

 

They couldn’t breathe. Hot fiery liquid scorched their throat and made them gurgle if they tried. Black Spots filled their vision and they were vaguely aware of a screaming pain in their chest but they didn’t have the strength to turn their head and investigate.

And they were scared. Terrified. Beyond the sputtering chokes and the internal screaming of their own creation they could hear heavy footsteps. The noise seemed to echo around the room. It bounced back at them from a million different angles at a million different volumes. 

The spear that had been pinning them to the wall disintegrated and there was a gruesome thud as their knees took the brunt of the fall. The ground was soaked with blood. It pooled around them like a lake around an island, lapping at them with waves far too gentle for their origin. 

A figure loomed above them. Armour made its silhouette as pointed as the peaked mountains of hell. It raised its arm high as another spear formed, this time mercifully less barbed and spiked than the previous that had ripped and torn at their flesh. This had the sleek appearance of executioner's blade. The thought of death sent a fresh spike of fear slicing through them.

“Undyne?” They finally managed to choke out. What? Who the hell was Undyne and why were they wasting precious oxygen on them? Resolving not to waste anymore on thinking about it they kicked out desperately with their leg.

There was a clang as it hit the target. It did more to push them away than affect the attacker. A spear sliced their cheek as they just managed to dodge it. The pain from it screamed out like a needy child, but it was barely a fairly light compared to the supernova located on their chest.

They kept dodging. Each flinch like movement only brought them a second of extra life. It was only a matter of time before the guard got frustrated. Suddenly their were spears everywhere. They rained down in places that the injured child no longer had the ability to dodge with. New supernovas were born in their legs, shoulders, arms and hands. They were speared to the bloody floor like an insect pinned by an entomologist.

The Final Spear loomed above.

Suddenly Frisk was forced from the beaten and bloody body. Their point of view twisted violently like they were in a rolling vehicle. They found themselves looking down on the kid, perhaps through the attacker's eyes perhaps not. It didn’t really matter, they couldn’t focus on anything but the scene before them.

The kid was beaten so heavily and too coated in blood to be identifiable. Open wounds littered their body. A particularly gruesome one was located towards the center of their chest. It was the one they’d hanged from against the wall and it was large enough that Frisk could almost see the floor through it. The kid’s leg was twisted awkwardly so that with the spear pins in place it looked broken. One of their arms was above their head and the other halfway as if they had been pinned mid surrender. Bile burned in Frisk’s throat, replacing the blood that had choked them earlier.

“Help. Me.” Desperate eyes locked gaze with Frisk. Their mouth barely moved, only twitching as if carrying out post death spasms.

“Help Me.” They repeated. This time their voice was pleading as if Frisk were denying them. Frisk felt a phantom grip on their shoulders.

“Help Me!” The pinned child screamed in anguish, the whites of their eyes began to turn black. The darkness ate its way in until it consumes everything. Black liquid flowed from their orifices as constant as blood had before.

“HELP ME! HELP ME! HELP ME!” The child screams continued as the room flooded in the black liquid. The pleading could still be heard over the waves as an ocean of black formed. It could still be heard over Frisk’s sobs as they begged for them to stop. It could still be heard over the buzzing in Frisk’s head as their mind ripped them away.

It could still be heard over Sans, who back in the waking world was desperately trying to see if they were okay.

As Frisk came to they began to panic again as they realised they were still choking. Sobs of an almighty strength wracked through them, stealing all opportunities to replace the missing oxygen. Arms wrapped around them pulling them close and filling their ears with the thrum of rain. Slowly, the echoes of the child’s pleas faded out of Frisk’s panic and fear ebbed away.

Frisk gripped onto Sans’ jacket to steady themselves as they shaked and trembled. Utter exhaustion numbed their body. Sans rough fingers were combing through their hair and he spoke reassurances in a voice so quiet Frisk only really heard soft whispering. The anime soundtrack from the front of the van sounded muffled. Frisk guessed Sans had put up some kind of sound barrier. Whether it was to help them sleep or give them privacy Frisk didn’t know, but they were grateful regardless.

Slowly, Frisk began to pull away. They didn’t meet Sans’ eyes knowing they would be filled with the kind of concern they didn’t have the energy to face.

“nightmares?” Sans guessed. Frisk nodded. He didn’t make an effort to force Frisk to meet his eyes which Frisk was grateful for, “wanna talk about it?”

Frisk shook their head but collapsed into his hold again. Even if they had wanted to talk about it they couldn’t, they didn’t have the energy. Plus the mixture of memories of choking and actual sobbing had left their throat painful.

“alright then,” Sans said gently as he maneuvered them both into a more comfortable position. They sat like that for a long time. Frisk listened to the rain in Sans chest, the muffled anime music and the low rumbles of the van on the road as Sans combed their hair. They were still tired, much more than before, but they didn’t dare go back to sleep.

What had that been about? Who was that kid? Frisk was no stranger to nightmares, a kid who had been trapped in a brutal timeline cycle was bound to be prone to them, but that nightmare had been strange. No matter how much Frisk searched their memories of timelines they couldn’t remember that happening. Yet the dream had had the stroke of realism to it that only dreams of the past possessed. 

Frisk themself had been killed by Undyne countless times, but this was different. Even in the worst timeline Undyne had never been that cruel. She wasn’t one to play with her food, when she killed she killed out of necessity. Undyne didn’t draw out the death of her victims and she certainly didn’t use her spears like that.

Frisk had to take a moment to force the image of the pinned child from their mind.

The dream hadn’t allowed Frisk a decent view at the attacker but the more they thought about it the less convinced they were it had been Undyne. Someone older maybe.

Shock rang through Frisk as an idea came to them. Had that been? No, surely not. When Frisk pictured the deaths of the previous humans they had always imagined them as peaceful. Casually accepting their sacrifices for the good of all monsters, the way in some timelines Frisk felt as they approached Asgore. Of course those timelines had all been for nought, the temptation to reset and avoid permanent death too strong. But Frisk had always pictured the lost humans bravely accepting the sacrifice, dying in a clean painless way.

Apparently not.

It twisted Frisk’s guts to think about. It made more logical sense that they had struggled. Sooner or later their survival instincts would have kicked in, if other desires failed to motivate them beforehand. Frisk guiltily admitted that they had been fooling themselves to think they were willing sacrifices. It had been easier forgive Asgore and the rest of the monsters by thinking of them that way. They winced. No, they weren’t ready to connect this with Asgore, their foster father. Morals be damned.

They couldn’t just do nothing though. For whatever reason the lost soul had sent them this vision. Perhaps they really did need Frisk’s help, perhaps Frisk could help bring them some peace. They didn’t know how yet, so Frisk might have to wait for a little more information, but they wanted to help.

The thought that there was a possibility they might be able to give the souls justice and help them find peace filled Frisk with DETERMINATION.

**Author's Note:**

> Honestly I wrote this like, a year ago. I have a few more chapters lined up but I will space them out so I have time to overhaul the plot and make things better. I just wanted to post something for once lmao


End file.
